A proposed gold mine in Gogama will see a lake in the area lost for the 15 years the mine is expected to operate, representatives from Iamgold Corporation told city councillors in Sudbury this week.

“(We) will lose Cote Lake during the life of the mine, and until the pit is filled, that water will be gone,” said Steven Woolfenden, Iamgold’s manager of Corporate Environmental Assessment and Approvals.

The Cote Gold open pit mine is still in the early stages of the government’s approval process, but the company hopes to start construction in 2015 and open the mine in 2017.

An estimated 1,200 people will work at the mine, 170 km from Sudbury, in the construction phase and 500 once the mine is up and running. “We’re excited to have this potential opportunity in Ontario, Cote Gold,” said Woolfenden. “We’re really hoping to establish ourselves in this region.”

Iamgold has mining operations in South America, Africa and Quebec. Cote Gold was previously owned by Trelawney Mining. The company was bought by Iamgold last June for $608 million.

“I see this as an economic opportunity for both Sudbury, Timmins and Gogama,” Mayor Marianne Matichuk said, telling Woolfenden and Dave Brown, manager of environmental services, she’s looking forward to working with them.

“The more this happens in our community, our city, our area, the more the north has an opportunity to grow.”

However, Coun. Joe Cimino had concerns about what the mine means for Sudbury.

“This mine does not sit in the boundary of Greater Sudbury. Therefore, our taxpayers won’t see any revenue in terms of assessments of buildings that they put on site … Yet the issue with truck traffic and the use of transports instead of rails is that it does impact our infrastructure.